by Jan Fielden

 

The other night we went hog hunting. There are all kinds of things going on during the night time…did you know that?!! First of all, there were Field Larks or maybe they are called Meadow Larks that dart and fly all around as soon as the light hits them. We came across two coyotes running for their lives or else they were chasing something that we couldn’t see. They were young coyotes and full of energy. One of them must have run the wrong way because he abruptly changed directions. There was a skunk…no surprise…waddling his way across the pasture. Then there are the cows, calves, bulls, and horse “laying up” as in laying down! We had just about given up finding any hogs when suddenly…right! hogs everywhere!

We came back around the Personal Grove and there was a sow with maybe 7-8 piglets, and a Boar. The hogs at first were just walking around. I thought they would run like crazy when the spotlight was put on them but the amber light did the trick. It gave The Colonel time to hand me the light and get out of the truck. As soon as his feet hit the ground he started shooting and the hogs started running. It is amazing how fast they can run with those little short legs! He was successful in killing a hog. We were told by a good friend that when you shoot one to leave it where it falls and the others won’t come back…for a while at least. We did that and the next day there were at least 20 buzzards on the hog. We are going to start going out every night and maybe we can trim down the number of hogs that want to root on land belonging to The Red Oak Ranch.